It is well known that insects in general can cause significant damage, not only to crops grown in agriculture, but also, for example, to structures and turf where the damage is caused by soil-borne insects, such as termites and white grubs. Such damage may result in the loss of millions of dollars of value associated with a given crop, turf or structures. Although there are many orders of insects that can cause significant crop damage, insects, for example, of the suborder “Homoptera” are of major importance. The suborder Homoptera includes, for example, aphids, leafhoppers, cicadas, whiteflies, and mealybugs, to name a few. Homopterans have piercing/sucking mouthparts, enabling them to feed by withdrawing sap from vascular plants. Insect damage from homopterans is manifested in several different ways, other than damage caused by direct feeding. For example, many species excrete honeydew, a sticky waste product that adheres to plants upon which the insect feeds and lives. Honeydew alone causes cosmetic injury to crop plants. Sooty molds will often grow on honeydew, making food products or ornamental plants look unappealing, thereby reducing their cosmetic and economic value. Some homopterans have toxic saliva that is injected into plants while they are feeding. The saliva can cause plant damage through disfigurement and in some instances plant death. Homopterans can also vector disease-causing pathogens. Unlike direct damage, it does not take a large number of disease-vectoring insects to cause considerable damage to crop plants.
Thus, there is a continuing demand for new insecticides, and for new acaricides that are safer, more effective, and less costly. Insecticides and acaricides are useful for controlling insects and acarids which may otherwise cause significant damage both above and below the soil level to crops such as wheat, corn, soybeans, potatoes, and cotton to name a few. For crop protection, insecticides and acaricides are desired which can control the insects and acarids without damaging the crops, and which have no deleterious effects to mammals and other living organisms.
A number of patents disclose some alkanediamine compounds that are reported to be insecticidally active. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,553 discloses certain insecticidal alkylenediamine compounds of the general formula I:
where    W1 is a five- or six-membered heterocyclic group, which may be substituted, containing at least one heteroatom selected from —O—, —S—, and —N—;    R1, R2, and R3 are hydrogen or alkyl;    R4 is hydrogen, alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, alkoxy, dialkylamino, alkoxyalkyl, alkylthioalkyl, or —CH2—W2— in which W2═W1;    X is —S—, —NR5—, or a single bond, in which R5 is hydrogen or alkyl, and in the case where X is —NR5—, the group —NR4R5—, in the formula I may have the same meaning as the group
in formula I;    Y is —N—, or ═CR6—, in which R6 is hydrogen, alkyl, aryl, acyl, alkoxycarbonyl, or cyano;    Z is cyano or nitro; and,    A is ethylene or trimethylene, which may be substituted with alkyl.
Published Japanese Patent Application 08269035A discloses certain tetrahydrofuran-3-ylmethyl derivatives of the general formula I:
where    R1 and R2 are hydrogen, or optionally substituted C1-C5alkyl; R3-R5 are hydrogen, optionally substituted C1-C5alkyl, optionally substituted C2-C5alkenyl, or optionally substituted C2-C5alkynyl; n is 2-5; R6 is hydrogen or C1-C3alkyl; X is CH or N; Y is NO2 or C≡N; and R3 and R4 together may form a ring.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,301 claims, inter alia, certain furan derivatives of the following general formula that are useful for the treatment of gastro-intestinal disorders:
where    X is, among others, R1CH2— where R1 is R2R3N—, where R2 and R3 are the same or different and each is hydrogen or lower alkyl;    Y is —CH2— or —C(═O)—;    l is an integer of 1 through 3;    RA is hydrogen, lower alkyl, lower alkanoyl, or substituted or un-substituted aroyl;    Z is, among others,
where    Q is oxygen or sulfur, R5 is hydrogen, lower alkyl, or substituted or un-substituted aryl,
where    R6 and R7 may be the same or different and each is hydrogen, cyano, lower alkoxycarbonyl, lower alkylsulfonyl, substituted or un-substituted arylsulfonyl, or nitro; provided that R6 and R7 cannot concurrently be hydrogen; R2a and R3a have the same meaning as R2 and R3 described above,
where    R6 and R7 are as described above, R8 is hydrogen or lower alkyl, and n is 1 or 2. European Patent EP 0547451 B1 claims compounds of the following general formula that are useful as insecticides:
where    X represents 2-chloro-5-pyridyl or 2-chloro-5-thiazolyl;    R1 represents hydrogen or (C1-C4)alkyl;    R2 is hydrogen, (C1-C4)alkyl, (C3-C4)alkynyl, (C3-C4)alkenyl and 2-chloro-5-pyridyl;    R3 and R4 are selected from hydrogen, halogen, (C1-C4)alkyl, (C3-C4)alkynyl, (C3-C4)alkenyl and benzyl which may be substituted, or a group represented by X—C(R1)H— wherein X and R1 are the same meaning as above;    N is an integer of 2 or 3, and    Y is —NO2 or —CN.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,012 claims compositions of compounds and salts thereof of the following general formula that are useful as insecticides:
where    A is 2-chloropyrid-5-yl, 2-methylpyrid-5-yl, 1-oxido-3-pyridinio, 2-chloro-1-oxido-5-pyrinio, or 2-chlorothiazol-5-yl;    R is hydrogen; (C1-C6)alkyl, phenyl(C1-C4)alkyl, (C3-C6)cycloalkyl, (C2-C6)alkenyl or (C2-C6)alkynyl;    And    X is N—NO2 or N—CN.
U.S. patent discloses compounds of the following general formula that are useful as insecticides:
where    n is 0 or 1;    R1, R2, R5 and R6 independently represent hydrogen or alkyl; R3 and R4 independently represent hydrogen, hydroxy or alkyl; where n is 1, then R2 may form a single bond with R5;    X represents —S—, —O—, ═N—R7 or ═CH—R8 wherein R7 is, inter alia, hydrogen, halogen, alkyl, hydroxy, benzyl, benzyloxy, alkenylcarbonyl, benzyloxycarbonyl, mono- and dialkylaminocarbonyl, phenylaminocarbonyl, phenylsulfonylaminocarbonyl, alkylsulfonyl, and phenacyl; R8 is hydrogen, alkyl, aryl and benzyl;    Y represents —N— or ═C(−)-R9 wherein R9 is, inter alia, hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, alkyl, alkoxy, alkylthiocarbonyl, phenoxycarbonyl, phenylthiocarbonyl, benzoylaminocarbonyl, phenylsulfonylamino, alkylthio, alkylsulfonyl and phenylthio, phenylsulfonyl;    R represents hydrogen and alkyl;    and,    U represents a 5- or 6-membered heterocyclis group containing at least one hetero atom selected from —O—, —S— and —N—; which may be substitutedThere is no disclosure or suggestion in any of the above-referenced patents or patent application of the structures and insecticidal and acaricidal activity of the compounds of the present invention.